-NDTV Profit   Some of India’s biggest and most-respected entrepreneurs have released an open letter to the government. The group which includes Wipro’s Azim Premji, Anu Aga of Thermax and HDFC's Deepak Parekh, refers to the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill that is meant to be introduced soon in Parliament. The industrialists write, “The Lokpal Bill is only one small but critical step in the national task of weeding out the plague of corruption...

-The Times of India   The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) wound up its six-day visit to Gujarat on Monday without meeting any of the voluntary agencies working on tribal rights in the state's eastern belt. NCST chairman Rameshwar Oraon told newspersons that he relied on feedback from "only those NGOs which were suggested by the state government", such as Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and Sadguru Foundation, both of whom...

Amid policy battles over food production, energy resources and economic decline, one untapped natural resource that is guaranteed to boost production on a global scale has been stubbornly overlooked – the power of women in the labour force. According to the World Bank's 2012 World Development Report (WDR) "Gender Equality and Development", ensuring equal access for women farmers would increase maize yields by 11 to 16 percent in Malawi and 17...

Team Anna both galvanised people and captivated the news industry, in two closely related but distinct strategies. India is not yet a society where Big Brother is Watching You. However, the mass spectacle of people wearing “I am Anna” topis and T-shirts signals a new phase of politics. If we recall “Anna” means Big Brother, we may wonder if in this case Big Brother is You, Watching. In the second case too,...

(Application deadline Friday September 30, 2011) Inclusive Media for Change, a CSDS-based initiative that runs a clearing house of ideas, information and alternatives on India’s rural crises (www.im4change.org), invites applications for media fellowships for journalists in English and Hindi for 2011. The ideal candidates would be willing to spend two to three weeks with rural communities and write series of stories or make radio/ TV programmes on grassroots issues that require...